Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I've tested it a few times and the dry-down is really great on me; sensual and comforting. I find that during the first 20 minutes, a weird milky/vomit note comes to the foreground. It seems to fade into the middle notes or perhaps it's part of the middle notes. What is it? Is it the civet mixing with the vanilla?

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I've got the EDP ... and I've tried it half a dozen times ... and I still can't get my head around it. I've been beating myself up over the notion that that it is the civet note that is repulsing me - which would make me an unliberated square ...

but my conclusion is that the dominant notes are two of my least favourite ones - lavender and vanilla. And that's why I cannot take to this classique.

Of course the fact that I don't like Musc Ravageur either may mean that I just don't have the animal sexy juice ... Grrrr

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

The civet and vanilla are very prominent in the pure perfume, but I don't get any 'baby vomit' note; nothing in the least bit like sour milk. It could be that some of the EdT notes are weaker and 'let out' something that the stronger versions hide better... and of course, everyone's skin chemistry is different.

Yr good bud,

JaimeB

"Why spend life seeking that which does not satisfy? Why remain a slave, when freedom waits? Let your life shine; illumine the world with your truth!"

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I ve got the EDP and to be honest I do understand very well that the first half our of my actually beloved Jicky is hard to handle: "baby vomit", "sour", "shit mixed with lavender": you re right! But: After half an hour or so the civet note ("baby vomit", "sour", "shit") melts perfectly into a classical fougere structure and in the end it gives it a certain depth and sensuality.....Same thing in Ungaro II and so many others.....

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

Originally Posted by costello

I ve got the EDP and to be honest I do understand very well that the first half our of my actually beloved Jicky is hard to handle: "baby vomit", "sour", "shit mixed with lavender": you re right! But: After half an hour or so the civet note ("baby vomit", "sour", "shit") melts perfectly into a classical fougere structure and in the end it gives it a certain depth and sensuality.....Same thing in Ungaro II and so many others.....

Thanks for your post, I was begining to think I was cursed with bad chemistry. Jicky really is a magical recipe!

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

Have any of you heard about that the name Jicky should be a pet name for Jacques "Jicky" Guerlain, and not the English girlfriend-story? A Swedish web site even suggests that Jicky was initially markedet as a scent pour homme: http://tovesolander.blogspot.com/200...ain-jicky.html

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I got lucky on this: From start to finish, Jicky smells like creme caramel, with a pronounced nutmeg note, very simple, no notes advancing or receding. Just... custard. At first I thought I was insane, but others have come up with the same verdict. Sweet and creamy. Perhaps male and female chemistry pull very different things out of this fragrance.

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I wear the pdt and parfum verisons. I never get the lavender in Jicky but lots of woods and civet.

Wonder if it could be the vanillin and tonka bean giving you the weird sour milk? Both are sweet notes.

Jicky was actually used as the base to create Shalimar
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Originally Posted by Mr. Guerlain

Have any of you heard about that the name Jicky should be a pet name for Jacques "Jicky" Guerlain, and not the English girlfriend-story? A Swedish web site even suggests that Jicky was initially markedet as a scent pour homme: http://tovesolander.blogspot.com/200...ain-jicky.html

Jacques is suppose to have helped his uncle Aimes create Jicky.

It did start as a feminine fragrance but women did not like it so they remarketed it to men and it took off. Once again the tried the female market and made up the romance story.

Last edited by donna255; 29th April 2007 at 06:25 AM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

Originally Posted by donna255

Jacques is suppose to have helped his uncle Aimes create Jicky. It did start as a feminine fragrance but women did not like it so they remarketed it to men and it took off. Once again the tried the female market and made up the romance story.

Interesting! So everyone agree that the romance-story is simply a story, made up to please the feminine market? Personally I find it masculine, even the Perfume-version.

Btw: I just bought the PDT (EDP) - has anyone felt that the opening smells a lot like liquorice? I bought it on Ebay, and when trying it the first time, I almost thought something was wrong with it (maybe to old) because it was so enourmously different from the EDT.

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

Originally Posted by kasae

...Interesting thread though - I hadn't realised Jicky was polarising, a bit like Mitsouko.

Interesting. I'd always thought of Jicky as a real love-it-or-hate-it scent. I do feel thath the civet in the EdT is not as well integrated as in, say, Ungaro II or even Kouros. But then I've got a quirky nose and am apparently extremely sensitive to (but not ill-disposed toward) civet.

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I'm so glad I found this thread! I was starting to think either I'd gone crazy or someone at Guerlain had played a vile trick on me...

I get the "baby vomit note" very pungently in the top of the EdT I received a few weeks ago. I'd never detected this whilst sampling instore (I think I sampled the EdT), so the plot thickens. I agree with those who find that the note of horror melts into a beautiful and complex perfume, but what horror to start.

I'd also like to flag up that the note has nothing to do with "skin chemistry" as it is just as prominent when sprayed on paper. I think by and large the difference is in our noses. I'm very envious of all you folk whose noses perceive nothing but loveliness in Jicky! And vanilla + lavender is one of my favourite combos (cf Pour Un Homme), so that's not what's putting me off.

Sigh. I thought we'd get along, me and Jicky. Holding my nose for the first 20min does spoil the mood somewhat.

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

I've read on these boards, and tend to agree that we aren't all having the same perception of smells, and some of us may be especially sensitive to civet. It simply can't be the case this perfume could be continuously produced for over 100 years if it smells like a lavender-scented diaper pail to everyone. I tried this on in the store, and about 15 minutes later started sniffing around trying to figure out where that smell was coming from before I figured it out. It smelled great at first.

I also can't deal with Shalimar EDT tester in the store, although when I tried my sample from TPC on skin it was sort of OK-ish. I don't know what concentration it is though, just says "Shalimar" on the label. Seems like it must be a wonderful scent if you subtract the diaper pail from it.

I wish it weren't the case! I also detect civet in LHB although at a more tolerable level. Maybe I could learn to tolerate civet. I've learned to tolerate cilantro - which is a taste that not everyone perceives the same way. Only a certain percentage perceive cilantro as tasting like soap.

Re: Jicky: What creates that baby vomit middle note?

Winner: Most Hilariously Repulsive Thread Title

My problem with Jicky is exactly the opposite. I purchased the EdT at a local mall about a year or so ago, and I get only the faintest whiff of civet. How disappointing. I suspect I got a cheap, modern batch. It's a not-bad fragrance, but I feel like I'm missing out on the shock-and-horror party I keep reading about. Bring on the baby barf, you might say.